Chapter 18: System

System "Lite"

There are other instructions available in your processor, but they have very little to no relationship to your application code. As mentioned at the beginning of this book, there are basically three types of instructions. (Note that I am oversimplifying here!) They are general-purpose, floating-point, and system instructions. The existence of these later instructions has to do with writing system level, thus operating system, code. They are not typically accessible or needed by those programmers writing non-operating system code. As this book is not targeted for that market, there is no need to make the standard application programmer wade through it. But as some of you may just cry foul, I have included a very light overview of these instructions. Besides, there are some tidbits in here for all of you!

Chapter 3, "Processor Differential Insight," as well as Chapter 16, "What CPUID?" gave some background on the processor. We shall now continue with that information. Some of what is included here is not necessarily just for system programmers as some features of the 80x86 are system related but are accessible from the application level. Note the System "Lite" part? Keep in mind that this is a superficial overview. If you need an in-depth explanation, please refer to documentation direct from the manufacturer.



32.64-Bit 80X86 Assembly Language Architecture
32/64-Bit 80x86 Assembly Language Architecture
ISBN: 1598220020
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 191

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